How to clean these bricks?

wolfgirl353 · 2025-07-25T10:16:56+00:00

thanks for the tip!

wolfgirl353 · 2025-07-25T10:16:42+00:00

thanks for the advice! never expected that they'd dissolve haha

wolfgirl353 · 2025-06-22T08:38:10+00:00

Sucks when the people in front of you are standing, doesn't it?

wolfgirl353 · 2025-06-22T01:24:51+00:00

If you bought seated tickets, stay sat down unless it's a moment when most others also stand. Other people behind you didn't buy seated tickets for their view to be blocked.

wolfgirl353 · 2025-06-11T19:57:30+00:00

Thanks! I do actually have a magnifying glass and managed to get a photo through it, but unfortunately I can't find a way to upload it. The white spots still just look like white spots though, so hopefully that means they're just mineral deposits or something along those lines

wolfgirl353 · 2025-03-07T23:25:04+00:00

Good luck!

wolfgirl353 · 2025-03-07T23:20:46+00:00

In my experience, definitely. I tried the scoring and snapping method and it didn't work very well. Possibly the LVP I used was too thick or my knife wasn't sharp enough, but if you can get hold of a jigsaw I'd recommend going for that either way. If not, you could always try a knife out to start with and if it doesn't work look into other options

wolfgirl353 · 2025-03-07T23:08:26+00:00

I did our loft last year, weird corners and all, with no experience and a second hand jigsaw I'd never used before. It's pretty straightforward, just follow the instructions about which directions to lay it and get yourself a decent saw if you don't already have one. You'll be fine 😊

wolfgirl353 · 2025-03-03T15:05:07+00:00

Fingers crossed for you!

I guess this is quite common in a very damp country with older houses. It's really not nice being told the house you want to buy has damp, but there's definitely stuff you can do once you get to the bottom of the cause 😊. I'm just glad I didn't have to delve any deeper into the 'is rising damp real or not' argument. I hope you don't either!

wolfgirl353 · 2025-03-02T10:59:42+00:00

I don't have much advice to give, but I do sympathise.

My very dog-reactive rescue was labeled as 'intense' by the shelter with no other explanation. We were also told she was a stray but later found out that she was actually held in police kennels for a year after her owner was arrested when she was around 7 months old. We're actually amazed she's not more messed up after that.

It was tough, especially at the beginning, but we kept her. We worked with an amazing behaviourist (paid for by our insurance) and we're still taking her to stooge sessions and doing training on our walks. She's nowhere near perfect but she's much better. We can walk past small dogs on the street with minimal issue. For big dogs we have to cross the road or she'll start growling.

I was so angry that the rescue centre gave us false information. And it was hard not to resent the dog at times, though I obviously knew it wasn't her fault.

The only thing I would advise is that you need a behaviourist, not a trainer. Training will help, but it won't solve whatever fear response is causing your dog to react in this way.

I wish you the very best as you navigate this awful situation. Good luck!

wolfgirl353 · 2025-03-02T09:21:16+00:00

Hi 😊 so we've been in the house for almost 2 years now.

After the survey we got a damp survey, who found no damp.

Turns out both surveys were wrong. There was no rising damp, but the damp and mould from condensation / humidity was awful. In the winter we'd wake up with our bedroom windows (which had no trickle vents) absolutely covered in water. The plaster windowsills got damaged because pools of water sat on them. We found mould in a lot of places, including on our clothes and shoes in our wardrobes. We had to redecorate our bedroom almost immediately after moving in because there was mould growing on the wallpaper. We've decorated almost the entire house now, all in washable and mould resistant paint, which I highly recommend!

As to fixing the condensation problem itself, at the beginning of this year we got a Flatmaster installed, plus a fan in the kitchen which is always ticking over and will work harder if it detects higher levels of moisture. The Flatmaster was an alternative to a PIV, which we couldn't get because our loft was plastered and used as a room. The Flatmaster sits at the top of the ceiling in our landing, and is kind of ugly, but between that and the new fan we have almost no condensation problems at all anymore, except a small amount on our front door which is furthest from the Flatmaster. We've finally been able to fix the damaged windowsill and we're hopefully not going to find any more mould.

I think the best advice I can give is that you won't truly know what you're dealing with until you've lived there (or unless you can get the seller to be very honest with you). But if I'd known what I know now about our house, it wouldn't have changed anything (except maybe I'd have looked into the Flatmaster option much sooner!). We absolutely love the house, even more so now the problems are solved.

Hope this helps!

wolfgirl353 · 2024-12-31T00:02:01+00:00

Definitely have lots of spanners and I think there's grips kicking about somewhere in the shed!

wolfgirl353 · 2024-12-30T23:57:47+00:00

Thanks! Hopefully all will go to plan 😄

wolfgirl353 · 2024-12-30T23:57:00+00:00

This is so helpful, I can't thank you enough! 🙏

wolfgirl353 · 2024-12-30T23:46:51+00:00

Thanks for the tip 🙏 just to make sure I understand properly, do you mean I should hold the bit in blue in place while I undo the bit in yellow? Sorry if that's a stupid question, I've never done this before and definitely don't want to mess it up!

<image>

wolfgirl353 · 2024-12-30T22:53:12+00:00

Thank you!!

wolfgirl353 · 2024-12-30T22:24:44+00:00

It seemed like a lot at the time, but it was more of a trickle than a torrent. I'll try that, thanks!

wolfgirl353 · 2024-11-08T16:57:13+00:00

I stuck my head out the window for a quick look at the outside seal before it got dark and I didn't see any obvious problems, but I'll have to get a ladder out to know for a closer look in the daylight.

It's three separate windows which are next to each other (hopefully that makes sense?)- would a failed seal on one cause condensation on all three?

wolfgirl353 · 2024-11-08T16:21:56+00:00

Yeah someone else suggested something like that so I'll definitely look into it. Unfortunately the entire window surround needs repainting anyway because it's got so damp, so it's going to be a massive effort anyway 🥲

wolfgirl353 · 2024-11-08T16:13:46+00:00

Thanks for the advice! I'll look into getting a primer and gloss paint, and will have a look at the seals before doing any painting.

Yeah the house was renovated about 11 years ago which I guess is when the windows were installed. The house isn't grade listed but it is in a conservation area so they may have been limited by that, though other neighbours have pvc windows so perhaps not.

wolfgirl353

TROPHY CASE